UC-NRLF 


2flb  im 


THE 

INSCRIPTIONS 

AT 

THE  PANAMA-PACIFIC 

INTERNATIONAL 

EXPOSITION 


SAN  FRANCISCO 
1915 

Price,  25  Cents 


THE 

INSCRIPTIONS 

AT 

THE  PANAMA-PACIFIC 

INTERNATIONAL 

EXPOSITION 


SELECTIONS  AND  NOTES  BY 
PORTER  GARNETT 


THE  SAN  FRANCISCO  NEWS  COMPANY 

DISTRIBUTORS 

SAN  FRANCISCO 
1915 


Copyright,  1915 
By  PORTER  GARNETT 


Reprinted  April,  1915 


SAN  FRANCISCO: 

The  Blair-Murdock  Company 

Printers 


The  architects9  plans  for  certain  build- 
ings and  monuments  at  the  Exposition 
called  for  a  number  of  inscriptions  to 
occupy  panels  and  spaces  provided  for 
the  purpose.  The  places  thus  designated 
constitute  three  groups, 
as  follows: 

GROUP  \-Tower  of  Jewels  (eight panels). 

GROUP  2— Court  of  the  Universe:  Arch  of 
the  Setting  Sun  (six panels);  A  rch 
of  the  Rising  Sun  (six  panels). 

GROUP  3 — Court  of  the  Four  Seasons  (six 
panels). 


GROUP- :  i J< 

TOWER  OF  'JEWELS    i 

INSCRIPTION  No.  i.    Tower  of  Jewels.     South  side.     Panel  at 
left  of  colonnade. 

1501 

RODRIGO  DE  BASTIDES 
PURSUING  HIS  COURSE 

BEYOND 

THE  WEST  INDIES 
DISCOVERS  PANAMA 

Rodrigo  de  Bastidas  (or  Bastides),  the  first  white  man 
to  reach  the  shores  of  Panama,  was  a  well-to-do  notary  of 
the  town  of  Triana,  a  gypsy  suburb  of  Seville.  Obtaining  a 
license  to  conduct  an  expedition  to  the  newly-discovered  con- 
tinent, he  set  sail  with  two  caravels  from  Cadiz  in  October, 
1500.  Early  in  the  following  year  he  landed  on  the  shores  of 
Darien,  becoming  thereby  the  discoverer  of  what  is  at  present 
the  Isthmus  of  Panama. 

Bastidas  was  subsequently  appointed  governor  of  the 
island  of  Trinidad.  While  he  was  administering  this  office 
some  of  his  subordinates  conspired  against  his  life,  and  he 
was  stabbed  by  them  one  night  while  asleep.  He  died  shortly 
thereafter  (1526)  at  Santiago,  Cuba,  from  the  effects  of  his 
wounds. 

It  has  been  said  of  Bastidas,  "Spain's  best  and  noblest  con- 
quistador," that  he  had  the  almost  unique  distinction  of  acting 
humanely  in  his  dealings  with  the  natives  of  America.  He 
was  a  gentleman  by  birth,  and  an  entirely  different  type 
from  the  impecunious  courtier,  the  swashbuckler,  and  the 
adventurer. 


1 


INSCRIPTION  No.  2.     Tower  of  Jewels,  south  side.     Panel  at 
left  of  central  arch. 

1513 
VASCO  NUNEZ  DE  BALBOA 

CROSSES 
THE  ISTHMUS  OF  PANAMA 

AND  DISCOVERS 
THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN 

Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  or  simply  Vasco  Nunez,  as  he 
was  called  by  the  older  writers,  was  born  at  Xeres  de  los 
Caballeros,  Spain,  in  the  year  1475.  He  was  a  gentleman  by 
birth,  an  adventurer  by  inclination.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  expedition  under  Bastidas,  which  discovered  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama  in  1501.  Later  he  led  the  life  of  a  planter  on  the 
island  of  Hispaniola,  now  known  as  Haiti.  When  a  party 
was  fitted  out  at  the  port  of  San  Domingo,  on  that  island, 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  new  colony  in  Darien,  Balboa, 
who  was  heavily  immersed  in  debt,  escaped  from  his  creditors 
by  concealing  himself  in  a  cask  which  was  placed  on  ship- 
board, and  in  due  time  he  was  landed  on  the  Isthmus.  His 
ability  and  courage  placed  him  very  soon  at  the  head  of  the 
little  colony  of  Santa  Maria  de  la  Antigua.  He  led  several 
expeditions  into  the  interior  in  search  of  gold,  of  which  there 
was  a  considerable  quantity  in  the  possession  of  the  natives. 
On  one  of  these  excursions  an  Indian  chief  told  him  of  the 
great  sea  to  the  southward,  and  of  the  land  of  Peru,  where 
vaster  riches  were  to  be  obtained.  Resolved  to  discover  this 
great  sea  and  this  new  source  of  wealth,  Balboa  set  out  with 
a  small  party  of  Spaniards  and  Indian  bearers,  and,  after  a 
journey  full  of  hardships,  lasting  twenty-five  days,  on  Sep- 
tember 25,  1513,  reached  the  top  of  a  mountain  from  which 
the  waters  of  the  Pacific  were  to  be  seen.  Balboa  called  it 
the  "South  Sea"  (Mar  del  Sur),  because  the  portion  of  it 
which  met  his  gaze  lay  to  the  south  of  the  Isthmus.  Standing 


on  the  mountain  peak,  he  took  possession  of  all  the  Pacific 
shores  in  the  name  of  the  Spanish  sovereign.  Four  days  later, 
clad  in  armor  and  holding  a  Spanish  standard  in  his  hand, 
he  marched  into  the  surf  and  again  declared  the  lands  washed 
by  the  waters  of  this  great  sea  to  be  the  possessions  of  the 
Spanish  crown. 

Balboa  traversed  the  Isthmus  many  times,  in  spite  of  its 
difficult  mountains,  its  dense  forests,  and  the  fevers  common 
to  its  climate;  and  from  each  trip  he  brought  back  an  ample 
store  of  gold  and  pearls.  Appointed  Adelantado  de  la  Mar 
del  Sur  (Governor  of  the  South  Sea),  he  was  making  ready 
in  the  year  1517  to  set  out  in  the  direction  of  Peru,  which  he 
thought  was  a  part  of  the  West  Indies,  when  his  intended 
father-in-law,  Governor  Davila,  animated  by  jealousy,  caused 
him  to  be  tried  and  put  to  death  "for  having  wished  to  run 
away  to  the  south." 


INSCRIPTION  No.  3.     Tower  of  Jewels,  south  side.     Panel  at 
right  of  central  arch. 

1904 

THE  UNITED  STATES 
SUCCEEDING  FRANCE 
BEGINS  OPERATIONS 

ON  THE 
PANAMA  CANAL 

The  attempt  of  the  French  company  (headed  by  Count  De 
Lesseps,  the  engineer  who  carried  to  its  completion  the  Suez 
Canal)  to  dig  a  canal  through  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  was 
virtually  abandoned  in  1889.  Ten  years  later,  in  1899,  the  first 
Isthmian  Canal  commission  under  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment was  created  by  act  of  Congress.  A  second  commission 
was  appointed  March  8,  1904.  Shortly  thereafter  the  property 
of  the  French  company  was  acquired  by  the  United  States  for 
the  sum  of  $40,000,000,  and  at  7 130  a.  m.,  May  4,  1904,  the  said 
property  was  formally  taken  over  in  the  name  of  the  United 
States  Government.  The  first  American  construction  crew 
arrived  at  Panama  on  May  7,  1904. 


INSCRIPTION  No.  4.     Tower  of  Jewels,  south  side.     Panel  at 
right  end  of  colonnade. 

1915 
THE  PANAMA  CANAL 

IS  OPENED 
TO  THE  COMMERCE 

OF 
THE  WORLD 

The  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal  may  be  said  to  date 
from  August  10,  1913,  on  which  day  Gamboa  Dyke  was  blown 
up  and  a  continuous,'  though  as  yet  unnavigable,  waterway 
was  created  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans. 

The  first  continuous  trip  by  a  vessel,  from  ocean  to  ocean, 
was  made  by  the  crane-boat  Alexander  La  Valley  on  January 
7,  1914.  The  official  and  formal  opening  of  the  Canal  is 
scheduled  for  some  time  in  1915,  at  which  time  President  Wil- 
son is  expected  to  preside  in  person  at  the  ceremonies. 


INSCRIPTION  No.  5.     Tower  of  Jewels,  north  side.     Panel  at 
left  end  of  colonnade. 

1542 

JUAN  RODRIGUES  CABRILLO 

DISCOVERS 

CALIFORNIA 

AND 
LANDS  ON  ITS  SHORES 

The  first  known  visit  of  white  men  to  the  coast  of  Upper 
California  occurred  when  the  Portuguese  navigator,  Juan 
Rodrigues  Cabrillo,  having  set  sail  from  La  Navidad,  on  the 
coast  of  Mexico,  with  two  small  ships,  the  San  Salvador  and 
La  Victoria,  on  June  7,  1542,  came  to  anchor,  on  September 
28  of  the  same  year,  in  San  Diego  Bay,  and,  on  October  18, 
landed  on  San  Miguel  Island.  While  there  his  arm  was  broken 
by  a  fall  and  complications  from  this  accident  were  the  cause 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  January  3,  1543. 


INSCRIPTION  No.  6.     Tower  of  Jewels,  north  side.     Panel  at 
left  of  central  arch. 

1776 
JOSE  JOAQUIN  MORAGA 

FOUNDS 
THE  MISSION 

OF 
SAN  FRANCISCO  DE  ASIS 

The  founder  of  the  Mission  of  San  Francisco  de  Asis 
(Mission  Dolores)  was  born  in  the  year  1741.  He  accom- 
panied Juan  Bautista  de  Anza  on  his  expedition  in  1774  to  the 
site  of  San  Francisco,  which  paved  the  way  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  settlement  there.  Moraga  founded  the  Mission  of 
San  Francisco  on  September  17,  1776.  The  Presidio  was 
established  at  the  same  time,  and  he  was  its  first  command- 
ant, retaining  the  position  until  his  death,  in  July,  1785.  He 
also  founded  the  Mission  of  Santa  Clara  in  1777,  and,  in  the 
same  year,  the  pueblo  of  San  Jose  Guadalupe,  the  present 
city  of  San  Jose. 


INSCRIPTION  No.  7.     Tower  of  Jewels,  north  side.     Panel  at 
right  of  central  arch. 

1846 

THE  UNITED  STATES 
UPON  THE  OUTBREAK  OF 

WAR  WITH  MEXICO 

TAKES  POSSESSION  OF 

CALIFORNIA 

After  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico,  Commodore  John  D.  Sloat,  on  July  7,  1846,  raised 
the  American  flag  at  Monterey,  then  the  capital  of  the  Mexican 
province  of  Alta  California.  On  July  9,  the  flag  was  raised 
at  San  Francisco  by  Captain  John  B.  Montgomery,  command- 
ing the  United  States  sloop-of-war  Portsmouth.  The  formal 
proclamation  declaring  California  to  be  a  part  of  the  United 
States  of  America  was  issued  on  July  29  by  Commodore 
Robert  F.  Stockton,  who,  having  superseded  Sloat,  officially 
represented  the  Government. 


INSCRIPTION  No.  8.     Tower  of  Jewels,  north  side.     Panel  at 
right  end  of  colonnade. 

1850 

CALIFORNIA 

IS  ADMITTED  TO 

THE  UNION 

AS 
A  SOVEREIGN  STATE 

The  admission  of  California  to  the  Union  was  the  most 
vital  of  a  series  of  questions  involving  slavery  assembled  by 
John  C.  Calhoun,  then  a  United  States  Senator,  in  his  famous 
compromise  bill.  After  a  prolonged  debate,  the  bill  came  to 
a  vote  in  the  Senate  on  August  13,  1850,  and  was  carried — 
ayes  34,  nays  18.  On  the  7th  of  September  the  bill  passed  the 
House  by  a  vote  of  150  to  56,  and  on  the  pth  it  received  the 
approval  of  President  Fillmore. 

Owing  to  the  lack  of  facilities  for  communication  which 
existed  at  that  time,  the  people  of  California  did  not  receive 
the  news  of  the  passage  of  the  bill  until  October  18,  when  the 
steamer  Oregon  entered  the  Golden  Gate,  flying  a  banner  in- 
scribed "California  is  a  State."  The  joy  of  the  people  knew 
no  bounds.  Newspapers  containing  the  intelligence  sold  for 
five  dollars  each.  September  9  (Admission  Day)  is  observed 
as  a  State  holiday  in  California. 


GROUP  2 
COURT  OF  THE  UNIVERSE 

INSCRIPTION  No.  9.     Court  of  the  Universe;  Arch  of  the  Set- 
ting Sun,  each  side,  facing  court.    Panel  at  left  of  attic. 

(England) 

IN  NATURE'S  INFINITE  BOOK  OF  SECRECY 
A  LITTLE  I  CAN  READ 

— Shakespeare. 

A  line  spoken  by  the  Soothsayer  in  the  second  scene  of 
the  first  act  of  "Antony  and  Cleopatra." 

Shakespeare  was  born  at  Stratford-on-Avon  April  23,  1564. 
He  died  April  23,  1616. 


10 


INSCRIPTION  No.  10.  Court  of  the  Universe ;  Arch  of  the  Set- 
ting Sun,  east  side,  facing  court.  Panel  in  center  of 
attic-  (America) 

FACING  WEST  FROM  CALIFORNIA'S 
SHORES  -  INQUIRING  TIRELESS  SEEK- 
ING WHAT  IS  YET  UNFOUND  -  I  A 
CHILD  VERY  OLD  OVER  WAVES  TO- 
WARDS THE  HOUSE  OF  MATERNITY 
THE  LAND  OF  MIGRATIONS  LOOK 
AFAR  -  LOOK  OFF  THE  SHORES  OF  MY 
WESTERN  SEA  THE  CIRCLE  ALMOST 
CIRCLED  -Whitman. 

Walt  Whitman  was  chosen  to  represent  America  because 
his  work  more  than  that  of  any  other  American  author  may 
be  said  to  express  the  spirit  of  the  American  people  and  the 
ideals  of  democracy.  It  was  after  this  determination  had 
been  reached  that  Mr.  Henry  Anderson  Lafler  suggested  this 
peculiarly  appropriate  quotation  from  one  of  the  poems  in 
"Leaves  of  Grass."  The  title  of  the  poem  is  the  same  as  its 
first  line — "Facing  West  from  California's  Shores."  The  com- 
plete poem  is  as  follows : 

Facing  west  from  California's  shores, 

Inquiring,  tireless,  seeking  what  is  yet  unfound, 

I,  a  child,  very  old,  over  waves,  towards  the  house  of 

maternity,  the  land  of  migrations,  look  afar. 
Look  off  the  shores  of  my  Western  sea,  the  circle  almost 

circled; 
For  starting  westward  from  Hindustan,  from  the  vales  of 

Kashmere, 
From  Asia,  from  the  north,  from  the  God,  the  sage,  and 

the  hero, 
From  the  south,  from  the  flowery  peninsulas  and  the  spice 

islands, 
Long  having  wander'd  since,    round  the  earth  having 

wander'd, 

Now  I  face  home  again,  very  pleased  and  joyous, 
(But  where  is  what  I  started  for  so  long  ago? 
And  why  is  it  yet  unfound?) 

'  11 


We  may  see  in  these  lines  the  poet  speaking  as  the  personi- 
fication and  representative  of  the  Aryan  race — the  race  which, 
having  its  origin  in  Asia,  has,  by  virtue  of  the  spirit  of  con- 
quest, the  desire  to  be  forever  "seeking  what  is  yet  unfound," 
finally  reached  the  western  edge  of  the  American  continent, 
whence,  "facing  west  from  California's  shores,"  Aryan  civiliza- 
tion looks  "towards  the  house  of  maternity,  the  land  of  migra- 
tions" from  which  it  originally  sprang. 

Walt  Whitman  was  born  at  West  Hill,  Long  Island,  May 
31,  1819.  As  a  youth  he  followed  the  printer's  trade,  and 
wrote  what  he  himself  called  "sentimental  bits."  Later  he 
taught  school,  and  also  had  a  varied  career  as  carpenter  and 
journalist.  For  a  time  he  was  editor  of  the  Brooklyn  Eagle. 
He  once  made  a  journey  on  foot  to  various  parts  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada.  During  the  war  he  acted  as  a  volunteer 
nurse  in  the  hospitals  at  Washington.  He  was  appointed  to  a 
clerkship  in  the  Department  of  the  Interior  by  President  Lin- 
coln, but  was  removed  by  Secretary  Harland,  on  account  of 
the  character  of  his  poetry.  In  1874  he  was  stricken  with 
paralysis.  He  lived  the  rest  of  his  life  at  Camden,  New  Jersey. 
He  died  March  26,  1892. 


12 


INSCRIPTION  No.  n.  Court  of  the  Universe;  Arch  of  the  Set- 
ting Sun,  east  side,  facing  court.    Panel  at  right  of  attic. 

(Spain) 

TRUTH  -  WITNESS  OF  THE  PAST  COUN- 
CILLOR OF  THE  PRESENT  GUIDE  OF 
THE  FUTURE  -Cervantes. 

This  passage,  which  occurs  in  the  ninth  chapter  of  the 
first  book  of  "Don  Quixote,"  has  to  do  with  truth  as  revealed 
through  history. 

Miguel  de  Cervantes  Saavedra  was  born  at  Alcala  de  Her- 
nares,  Spain,  on  or  about  September  29,  1547.  After  receiving 
his  education  at  the  universities  of  Salamanca  and  Madrid,  he 
became  a  soldier,  and  was  wounded  at  the  famous  battle  of 
Lepanto  in  1571.  In  1575  he  was  captured  by  an  Algerine 
corsair  and  taken  as  a  slave  to  Algiers.  He  was  ransomed  for 
five  hundred  ducats  and  returned  to  Madrid,  where  he  began 
the  active  literary  career  which  he  pursued  until  his  death,  on 
April  23,  1616,  on  which  day  Shakespeare  also  died. 


13 


INSCRIPTION  No.  12.  Court  of  the  Universe;  Arch  of  the 
Setting  Sun,  west  side,  facing  away  from  court.  Panel 
at  left  of  attic. 

(Italy) 

THE  WORLD  IS  IN  ITS  MOST  EXCELLENT 
STATE  WHEN  JUSTICE  IS  SUPREME 

— Dante. 

From  "Pergatory,"  the  second  part  of  the  "Divine 
Comedy." 

Dante  Alighieri,  regarded  as  the  greatest  poetical  genius 
that  flourished  between  the  Augustan  and  the  Elizabethan 
ages,  was  born  at  Florence  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  1265. 
The  poet's  spiritual  life  and  imaginative  faculty  were  awak- 
ened by  his  love  for  Beatrice  Portinari.  This  passion,  one 
of  the  most  notable  in  all  history,  exerted  upon  Dante's 
mind  a  profound  and  constant  influence,  and  was  the  in- 
spiration of  by  far  the  greater  part  of  his  poetry.  As  a  result 
of  political  upheavals,  he  was  banished  from  Florence.  He 
died  at  Ravenna  September  14,  1321. 


14 


INSCRIPTION  No.  13.  Court  of  the  Universe;  Arch  of  the 
Setting  Sun,  west  side,  facing  away  from  court.  Panel 
in  center  of  attic. 

(Germany) 

IT  IS  ABSOLUTELY  INDISPENSABLE 
FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES  TO  EFFECT 
A  PASSAGE  FROM  THE  MEXICAN  GULF 
TO  THE  PACIFIC  OCEAN  AND  I  AM 
CERTAIN  THAT  THEY  WILL  DO  IT - 
WOULD  THAT  I  MIGHT  LIVE  TO  SEE 
IT  BUT  I  SHALL  NOT  _Goethe. 

An  extract  from  one  of  Goethe's  conversations  with  M. 
Soret.  The  full  text  of  this  conversation,  remarkable  for 
its  prophetic  character,  is  to  be  found  in  "Goethe's  Conversa- 
tions with  Eckermann  and  Soret,"  and  is  as  follows : 

Wed.  Feb.  21  [1827]. — Dined  with  Goethe.  He  spoke 
much  and  with  admiration  of  Alexander  von  Humboldt, 
whose  work  in  Cuba  and  Columbia  he  had  begun  to  read, 
and  whose  views  as  to  the  project  of  making  a  passage 
through  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  appeared  to  have  a  pecu- 
liar interest  for  him.  "Humboldt,"  said  Goethe,  "has,  with 
a  great  knowledge  of  his  subject,  given  over  points  where, 
by  making  use  of  some  streams  which  flow  into  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  the  end  may  be  perhaps  better  attained  than  at 
Panama.  All  this  is  reserved  for  the  future,  and  for  an  en- 
terprising spirit.  So  much,  however,  is  certain,  that,  if  they 
succeed  in  cutting  such  a  canal  that  the  ships  of  any  bur- 
den and  size  can  be  navigated  through  it  from  the  Mexican 
Gulf  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  innumerable  benefits  would  re- 
sult to  the  whole  human  race,  civilized  and  uncivilized. 
But  I  should  wonder  if  the  United  States  would  let  an  op- 
portunity escape  of  getting  such  work  into  their  own 
hands.  It  may  be  foreseen  that  this  young  state,  with  its 
decided  predilection  to  the  West,  will  in  thirty  or  forty 
years,  have  occupied  and  peopled  the  large  tract  of  land 
beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  may  furthermore  be  fore- 
seen that  along  the  whole  coast  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  where 
nature  has  already  formed  the  most  capacious  and  secure 
harbors,  important  commercial  towns  will  gradually  arise, 

15 


for  the  furtherance  of  a  great  intercourse  between  China 
and  the  United  States.  In  such  a  case,  it  would  not  only  be 
desirable,  but  almost  necessary,  that  a  more  rapid  communi- 
cation should  be  maintained  between  the  eastern  and  west- 
ern shores  of  North  America,  both  by  merchant-ships  and 
men-of-war,  than  has  hitherto  been  possible  with  the  tedi- 
ous, disagreeable,  and  expensive  voyage  round  Cape  Horn. 
I  therefore  repeat  that  it  is  absolutely  indispensable  for  the 
United  States  to  effect  a  passage  from  the  Mexican  Gulf 
to  the  Pacific  Ocean;  and  I  am  certain  that  they  will  do  it. 
Would  that  I  might  live  to  see  it! — but  I  shall  not.  I 
should  like  to  see  another  thing — a  junction  of  the  Danube 
and  the  Rhine.  But  this  undertaking  is  so  gigantic  that  I 
have  doubts  of  its  completion,  particularly  when  I  consider 
our  German  resources.  And  thirdly,  and  lastly,  I  should 
wish  to  see  England  in  possession  of  a  canal  through  the 
Isthmus  of  Suez.  Would  I  could  live  to  see  these  three 
great  works!  it  would  well  be  worth  the  trouble  to  last 
some  fifty  years  more  for  the  purpose." 

Johann  Wolfgang  von  Goethe,  the  most  illustrious  name 
in  German  literature,  and  one  of  the  greatest  poets  of  any 
age  or  country,  was  born  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main  August 
28,  1749.  As  a  child  he  exhibited  a  wonderful  precocity  of 
intellect,  being  able  at  nine  years  of  age  to  write  several 
different  languages,  including  French,  Latin,  and  Greek.  In 
his  twelfth  year  he  took  up  the  study  of  English  and  Hebrew. 
Later  he  was  a  student  at  the  universities  of  Leipsig  and 
Strasburg.  He  devoted  himself  to  poetry,  art,  science,  the 
languages,  philosophy,  and  criticism,  with  an  impartiality  and 
success  of  which  the  history  of  the  human  mind  probably 
furnishes  no  other  example.  He  died  at  Weimar  on  March 
22,  1832. 


16 


INSCRIPTION  No.  14.  Court  of  the  Universe;  Arch  of  the 
Setting  Sun,  west  side,  facing  away  from  court.  Panel 
at  right  of  attic. 

(France) 

THE  UNIVERSE- AN  INFINITE  SPHERE 
THE  CENTER  EVERYWHERE  THE  CIR- 
CUMFERENCE NOWHERE  _pascaL 

Pascal's  famous  definition  of  the  universe  is  to  be  found 
in  his  "Thoughts,"  Section  II.,  Fragment  72. 

The  choice  of  an  author  to  represent  France  fell  upon 
Pascal  only  after  the  claims  of  many  other  French  men  of 
letters  had  been  considered.  It  cannot  be  said  of  any  French 
author  that  he  is  preeminent  among  the  writers  of  his  country 
in  the  sense  that  Shakespeare  is  preeminent  in  English  liter- 
ature, Dante  in  Italian,  or  Goethe  in  German.  Howbeit, 
Pascal's  unquestioned  genius,  the  elevation  of  his  mind,  and 
the  permanence  of  his  contributions  to  science  and  moral 
philosophy  give  him  a  clearer  title  than  can  be  urged  for 
some  ^of  his  more  brilliant  compatriots.  It  was  one  of  these, 
Voltaire,  who  expressed  the  opinion  that  "Moliere's  best 
comedies  do  not  excel  these  'Letters'  [Pascal's  "Provincial 
Letters"]  in  wit  nor  do  the  compositions  of  Bossuet  excel 
them  in  sublimity."  The  most  competent  French  critics,  in- 
cluding Voltaire  and  d'Alembert,  concur  in  the  judgment  that 
the  "Provincial  Letters"  contribute  more  than  any  other 
composition  to  form  and  polish  the  French  language.  Hal- 
lam  says :  "The  Thoughts  of  Pascal'  are  to  be  ranked  as  a 
monument  to  his  genius,  above  the  'Provincial  Letters/ " 
Macaulay  says  o-f  him :  "His  intellectual  powers  were  such 
as  have  rarely  been  bestowed  upon  any  of  the  children  of  men. 
.  .  .  The  delicacy  of  his  wit,  the  purity,  the  energy,  the  sim- 
plicity of  his  rhetoric,  had  never  been  equalled,  except  by  the 
great  masters  of  Attic  eloquence." 

Blaise  Pascal  was  born  at  Clermont-Ferrand,  in  Auver- 
gne,  France,  on  June  19,  1623.  In  his  early  childhood  he 
showed  an  extraordinary  aptitude  for  geometry,  but  he  was 

17 


discouraged  in  the  study  of  mathematics  by  his  father,  who 
wished  him  to  devote  himself  to  the  classics.  Mathematical 
works  were  denied  to  him,  but  when  he  was  only  twelve  years 
of  age  he  was  discovered  in  the  act  of  demonstrating  proposi- 
tions, having  discovered  or  learned  the  elements  of  geometry 
unaided.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  invented  an  ingenious 
calculating-machine.  About  this  time  his  health  failed,  but 
he  continued  his  achievements  in  science  until  his  twenty- 
sixth  year,  when  he  renounced  the  prospect  of  fame,  toward 
wrhich  his  genius  was  conducting  him,  and  thenceforth  de- 
voted himself  to  religious  duties  and  a  life  of  retirement. 

He  subjected  himself  to  a  severely  ascetic  discipline,  and 
finally  retired  into  the  cloister  of  Port-Royal.  The  works 
that  he  produced  during  the  latter  part  of  his  lifetime  were 
philosophical  and  religious  in  character.  He  died  on  August 
19,  1662. 


18 


INSCRIPTION   No.    15.     Court  of  the  Universe;    Arch   of  the 
Rising  Sun,  west  side,  facing  court.   Panel  at  left  of  attic. 

(China) 

THEY  WHO  KNOW  THE  TRUTH  ARE 
NOT  EQUAL  TO  THOSE  WHO  LOVE 

TT 

— Confucius. 

From  the  "Confucian  Analects,"  Book  VI,  Chapter  XVIII. 

A  quotation  from  the  "Confucian  Analects"  cannot  be 
said  to  come  from  a  "sacred"  source.  The  religion  known 
as  Confucianism  has  been  built  up  since  the  great  philosopher's 
death,  upon  the  code  of  morality  which  he  promulgated. 

Confucius  was  born  in  the  year  552  B.  C,  in  the  king- 
dom of  Loo,  a  portion  of  Northern  China  nearly  correspond- 
ing to  the  modern  province  of  Shan-tung.  His  father  was 
prime  minister  of  the  state  in  which  he  lived,  and  from  him 
Confucius  inherited  a  taste  for  political  studies.  His  youth 
was  spent  in  fitting  himself  for  filling  offices  of  high  political 
trust,  and  he  entered  political  life  at  the  age  of  twenty  as 
"keeper  of  the  stores  of  grain."  After  a  continued  success 
as  an  administrator,  the  eyes  of  the  kingdom  were  turned 
upon  him,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five,  as  the  future  prime 
minister.  But  a  revolution  occurred,  Confucius  lost  his 
official  position  and  became  a  wanderer.  This  continued  for 
a  period  of  eight  years,  during  which  time  he  visited  the 
various  provinces  of  China,  teaching  as  he  went,  but  without 
as  yet  making  any  great  impression  upon  the  mass  of  the 
people.  Another  political  upheaval,  and  Confucius  once  more 
entered  public  life,  holding  successively  a  number  of  offices, 
and  finally  that  of  Minister  of  Crime.  Under  his  administra- 
tion reformation  made  rapid  strides,  but  his  zeal  brought  him 
many  enemies,  and,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six,  he  was  again  driven 
from  his  home  and  compelled  once  more  to  wander  as  a 
teacher.  At  first  he  was  persecuted  wherever  he  went,  but 
he  began  after  a  time  to  gather  about  him  a  band  of  disciples, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  he  numbered  his  followers  by 
the  thousands.  At  the  age  of  sixty-nine,  he  retired  with  his 


19 


disciples  to  a  valley  in  his  native  province.  There  he  de- 
voted himself  for  five  years  to  the  revision  of  the  ancient 
sacred  books,  which  had  been  from  the  most  remote  times 
regarded  by  the  Chinese  as  the  sources  of  all  true  wisdom 
and  knowledge.  It  is  said  that  he  pruned  these  of  many 
extravagances ;  and,  in  the  text  as  well  as  in  the  notes,  stated 
his  own  opinions,  and  added  much  to  the  original  value  of  the 
works. 

Disappointed  hopes  made  the  end  of  his  life  bitter.  The 
great  ones  of  the  kingdom  had  not  received  his  teachings, 
nor  were  expectations  of  another  life  with  him  when  he  died 
in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age,  B.  C.  479.  Posthumous 
honors,  amounting  to  idolatrous  worship,  have  been  conferred 
upon  him.  Through  his  grandson,  Tsz'sz',  who  survived 
him,  the  succession  has  been  transmitted  to  the  present  day, 
and  it  was  computed  almost  two  hundred  years  ago,  or  2150 
years  after  his  death,  that  there  were  11,000  males  in  China 
bearing  his  name. 


20 


INSCRIPTION  No.  16.  Court  of  the  Universe;  Arch  of  the 
Rising  Sun,  west  side,  facing  court.  Panel  in  center 
of  attic. 

(India) 

THE  MOON  SINKS  YONDER  IN  THE 
WEST  WHILE  IN  THE  EAST  THE  GLO- 
RIOUS SUN  BEHIND  THE  HERALD 
DAWN  APPEARS  -  THUS  RISE  AND  SET 
IN  CONSTANT  CHANGE  THOSE  SHIN- 
ING ORBS  AND  REGULATE  THE  VERY 
LIFE  OF  THIS  OUR  WORLD 

— Kali  das  a. 

The  opening  lines  of  the  fourth  act  of  "Shakuntala."  Its 
author,  Kalidasa,  is  the  poet  in  Sanscrit  literature  who  may 
be  best  compared  with  Shakespeare.  His  principal  works 
were  three  dramas,  of  which  "Shakuntala"  is  the  most 
famous.  The  high  opinion  in  which  Goethe  held  this  master- 
piece is  expressed  in  the  following  lines : 

Would'st  thou  tell  of  the  blossoms  of  Spring,  and  paint  the 

ripe  fruits  of  the  Autumn, 
All    that    may    charm    and    delight    with    fullness    and    joy 

manifold; 
Would'st  thou  combine  in  one  word  enchantments  of  Earth 

and  Heaven — 

I'll   name,    O    Shakuntala,   thee;     in   thy   name   alone  all   is 
told. 

Kalidasa  also  wrote  lyrical,  descriptive,  and  narrative 
poetry.  Little  if  any  authentic  information  exists  respecting 
his  life.  Even  the  era  in  which  he  lived  has  been  the  subject 
of  much  discussion.  The  native  theory  favors  the  first  cen- 
tury B.  C,  but  the  consensus  of  scholarly  opinion  points  to 
the  middle  of  the  sixth  century  A.  D.  There  is  a  story  that 
his  death  was  violent — that  he  perished  by  the  hand  of  a 
woman,  who,  to  win  a  monarch's  favor,  claimed  one  of 
Kalidasa's  improvised  verses  as  her  own,  and  murdered  the 
poet  lest  the  truth  should  be  discovered. 


21 


INSCRIPTION  No.  17.  Court  of  the  Universe;  Arch  of  the 
Rising  Sun,  west  side,  facing  court.  Panel  at  right  of 
attic. 

(Japan) 

OUR    EYES    AND    HEARTS    UPLIFTED 
SEEM  TO  GAZE  ON  HEAVEN'S 
RADIANCE  -Hitomaro. 

This  extract  is  from  a  "lay"  by  Hitomaro  entitled  "Lines 
Composed  on  the  Occasion  of  Prince  Wosa's  Hunting  Party 
on  the  Moor  of  Kariji."  The  lay  is  contained  in  the 
Manyoshiu,  or  "Collection  of  a  Myriad  Leaves,"  which  em- 
bodies the  classical  poetry  of  Japan,  embracing  a  period  of 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  divided  between  the 
seventh  and  eighth  centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  The  poems 
in  the  collection  number  upwards  of  4000  pieces,  and  the 
official  Japanese  edition  consists  of  no  less  than  one  hundred 
and  twenty-two  volumes. 

Basil  Hall  Chamberlain  says  of  Hitomaro  in  "The  Classical 
Poetry  of  Japan" :  "Of  this  the  most  celebrated  poet  of  Japan, 
we  know  nothing  more  than  can  be  gleaned  from  the  notes 
to  his  poems  contained  in  the  'Collection  of  a  Myriad  Leaves/ 
excepting  the  bare  statement  in  the  official  annals  that  he  died 
in  the  province  of  Ihami  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  the  third 
moon  of  the  year  737.  .  .  .  Though  apparently  of  noble  origin 
(the  Shiyanzhiroku,  an  ancient  work  on  pedigrees,  traces  his 
descent  to  the  Mikado  Bidatsu,  who  died  A.  D.  585),  he  was 
of  low  rank,  a  fact  which  is  sufficiently  established  by  the 
various  mentions  of  him  in  the  notes  to  the  poems,  and  by  the 
non-honorific  Chinese  character  employed  for  the  word  'died' 
in  the  official  notice  of  his  decease.  Legend,  however,  has 
not  been  content  to  leave  so  favorite  a  bard  in  obscurity, 
and  has  drawn  materials  from  his  very  name  where  otherwise 
there  was  nothing  to  build  on.  Kakinomoto  [Hitomaro's  sur- 
name] signifies  literally  "the  fort  of  the  persimmon-tree" 
(most  Japanese  surnames  are  taken  from  natural  objects, 
thus :  Wisteria-Moor,  Large  Estuary,  Slope-of-the-Mountain. 

22 


There  is,  therefore,  nothing  peculiar  in  Kakinomoto),  and  it 
is  fabled  that  a  warrior  called  Ayabe,  on  going  one  day  into 
his  garden,  found  standing  at  the  foot  of  his  persimmon-tree 
a  child  of  more  than  mortal  splendor.  On  being  asked  its 
name,  the  little  creature  replied,  'I  have  neither  father  nor 
mother ;  but  the  moon  and  the  winds  obey  me,  and  poetry  is 
my  delight.'  The  warrior  thereupon  called  his  wife,  who  was 
as  greatly  charmed  by  the  boy  as  her  husband  had  been.  So 
they  adopted  him  and  named  him  after  the  tree  beneath  whose 
shade  he  had  first  been  shown  to  them.  ...  It  is  also  alleged 
that  in  the  vicinity  of  the  poet's  grave  there  grows  a  per- 
simmon-tree, possessing  among  other  remarkable  qualities 
that  of  bearing  fruits  which  are  pointed  and  black  at  the  end, 
resembling  a  pen  in  shape  and  color." 


23 


INSCRIPTION  No.  18.  Court  of  the  Universe;  Arch  of  the 
Rising  Sun,  east  side,  facing  away  from  court.  Panel 
at  left  of  attic. 

(Arabia)  *   - 

HE  THAT  HONORS  NOT  HIMSELF 
LACKS   HONOR  WHERESOE'ER  HE 

GOES  -Zuhayr. 

These  words,  written  by  Zuhayr  ibn  Abi  Sulma,  are  from 
one  of  the  seven  mu'allaqat  or  "Suspended  Poems,"  so  called, 
according  to  one  of  the  several  existing  theories,  because 
they  are  supposed  to  have  been  inscribed  on  linen  in  letters 
of  gold  and  hung  up — as  representing  the  finest  examples  of 
Arabic  poetry — in  the  Ka'ba,  which  is  the  most  sacred  shrine 
in  the  city  of  Mecca.  Legend  attributes  the  foundation  of 
this  building  to  Adam,  who  built  it  by  divine  command  after 
a  celestial  archetype.  At  the  Deluge  it  was  taken  up  into 
heaven,  but  was  rebuilt  on  its  former  site  by  Abraham  and 
Ishmael.  While  they  were  occupied  in  this  work  Gabriel 
brought  the  celebrated  Black  Stone,  which  is  set  in  the  south- 
east corner  of  the  building,  and  he  also  instructed  them  in  the 
ceremonies  of  the  Pilgrimage.  When  all  was  finished,  Abra- 
ham stood  on  a  rock,  known  to  later  ages  as  the  Maqamu 
Ibrahim,  and,  turning  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  sky,  made 
proclamation:  "O  ye  people!  The  Pilgrimage  to  the  Ancient 
House  is  prescribed  unto  you.  Hearken  to  your  Lord!" 
And  from  every  part  of  the  world  came  the  answer :  "Lab- 
bayka,  'llahumma,  labbayka" — i.  e.,  "We  obey,  O  God;  we 
obey." 

Tradition  has  it  that  the  seven  "Suspended  Poems"  were 
selected  at  the  national  fair  of  'Ukaz,  which  was  held  annually 
in  the  month  of  Zu-l-Qa'dah,  one  of  the  four  sacred  months 
in  which  it  was  forbidden  to  wage  war.  To  this  "Olympia 
of  Arabia"  poets  resorted  and  placed  the  fruits  of  their  poetic 
talents  before  the  public  for  its  judgment  and  award,  which 
was  always  regarded  as  final. 

24 


Zuhayr  flourished  in  the  sixth  century  of  the  Christian  era. 
Little  is  known  of  his  life.  He  was  a  soldier  as  well  as  a 
poet,  and  is  supposed  to  have  lived  to  be  over  one  hundred 
years  of  age. 


25 


INSCRIPTION  No.  19.  Court  of  the  Universe;  Arch  of  the 
Rising  Sun,  east  side,  facing  away  from  court.  Panel 
in  center  of  attic. 

(Persia) 

THE  BALMY  AIR  DIFFUSES  HEALTH 
AND  FRAGRANCE -SO  TEMPERED  IS 
THE  GENIAL  GLOW  THAT  WE  KNOW 
NEITHER  HEAT  NOR  COLD  -  TULIPS 
AND  HYACINTHS  ABOUND  -  FOS- 
TERED BY  A  DELICIOUS  CLIME  THE 
EARTH  BLOOMS  LIKE  A  GARDEN 

— Firdausi. 

Firdausi,  the  national  poet  of  Persia,  has  been  called  "the 
Homer  of  the  East."  He  was  born  at  Tus  in  Khorasan 
between  the  years  935  and  950  A.  D.  His  real  name  was 
Abul  Kasim  Mansur;  the  appellation  "Firdausi"  (Paradise), 
by  which  he  is  known  to  fame,  was  bestowed  upon  him, 
according  to  some  accounts,  by  his  patron,  the  sultan  Mahmud. 

It  was  this  Mahmud  who,  having  called  for  a  poet  to  relate 
in  verse  the  history  of  the  Persian  empire,  finally  selected 
Firdausi  for  this  great  task.  The  "Shah-Nameh,"  or  "Book 
of  Kings,"  a  poem  of  sixty  thousand  rhymed  couplets,  was 
the  result. 

A  quaint  legend  exists  which  has  to  do  with  an  incident 
that  led  to  the  awarding  of  this  royal  commission.  Upon 
hearing  of  the  sultan's  offer,  Firdausi  set  out  from  his  native 
town  of  Tus  for  Ghizni,  the  capital  city.  Upon  reaching  its 
vicinity,  he  happened  to  pass  near  a  garden  where  three 
celebrated  poets,  Unsari,  Usjudi,  and  Furroki,  were  sitting 
drinking  wine.  The  poets  observed  a  stranger  approach,  and 
one  of  them  said :  "If  that  fellow  comes  hither  he  will  spoil 
our  pleasure;  let  us  therefore  get  rid  of  him  at  once  by 
scolding  him  away."  But  the  others  disapproved  of  this 

26 


harsh  mode  of  proceeding,  and  thought  it  would  be  better 
to  overcome  him  by  some  stroke  of  learning  or  waggery. 
When  Firdausi  drew  near,  one  of  them  thus  familiarly  ad- 
dressed him :  "Here  we  are  engaged  in  making  extempo- 
raneous verses,  and  whoever  is  able  to  follow  them  up  with 
promptitude  and  effect  shall  be  admitted  as  an  approved 
companion  to  our  social  board."  Unsari  then  began  with  an 
apostrophe  to  a  beautiful  woman : 

The  light  of  the  morn  to  thy  splendor  is  weak. 

Usjudi  rejoined: 

The  rose  is  eclipsed  by  the  bloom  of  thy  cheek. 

Furroki,  thinking  to  discomfit  Firdausi  by  calling  upon 
him  to  find  a  rhyme  for  a  word  for  which  none  existed, 
added : 

Thy  eye-lashes  dart  through  the  folds  of  the  joshun  (armor)    .    .    . 

To  which  Firdausi  replied  without  hesitation : 
Like  the  javelin  of  Giw  in  the  battle  with  Poshun. 

The  other  poets  were  astonished  at  the  readiness  of  the 
stranger,  the  more  so  as  they  were  totally  ignorant  of  the 
story  of  Giw  and  Poshun.  Firdausi  thereupon  told  them  the 
story,  and  was  treated  by  them  with  the  greatest  kindness. 
They  even  recommended  him  to  the  sultan  Mahmud,  who, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  became  his  patron. 

Firdausi  was  forty  years  of  age  when  he  began  writing 
the  "Shah-Nameh" ;  he  was  upwards  of  seventy  when  he 
completed  it.  Mahmud  promised  him  one  thousand  pieces  of 
gold  for  every  thousand  couplets ;  but  the  story  goes  that 
on  the  completion  of  the  task  the  sultan  was  persuaded  by 
his  grand  vizier  to  send  the  poet  sixty  thousand  pieces  of 
silver  instead.  Firdausi  is  said  to  have  been  in  the  bath 
when  the  elephants  laden  with  the  money-bags  arrived.  On 
discovering  the  deception,  the  injured  poet  rejected  the  gift 
with  scorn,  and,  dividing  the  silver  into  three  portions,  he 
presented  one  of  these  to  the  -bath  steward,  the  second  to 
the  elephant  driver,  and  the  last  to  a  servant  who  brought 


27 


him  a  cup  of  beer  (fiikda).  The  sultan,  incensed  by  this  act 
of  disrespect,  issued  an  order  that  Firdausi  be  trampled  to 
death  by  an  elephant;  but  the  poet,  being  warned  in  time, 
fled  for  his  life.  Before  doing  so,  however,  he  wrote  his 
famous  satire  on  Mahmud. 

Before  Firdausi  died  it  is  said  that  the  sultan  relented  and 
sent  to  him  the  promised  gold  beside  many  other  gifts.  As 
the  treasure-laden  caravan  approached  the  poet's  dwelling 
it  was  met  by  the  funeral  cortege  taking  his  body  to  its  place 
of  burial.  Firdausi's  tomb,  at  Tus,  is  at  the  present  time  a 
place  of  pious  pilgrimage. 

The  "Shah-Nameh"  comprises  the  annals  and  achievements 
of  the  ancient  kings  of  Persia,  from  Kaiumers  down  to  the 
invasion  of  the  Saracens  in  A.  D.  636 — an  estimated  period 
of  more  than  3600  years.  Kaiumers  is  understood  to  be  the 
Adam  of  the  fire-worshipers,  and  the  grandson  of  Nu,  the 
Noah  of  the  Mahometans.  The  principal  hero  of  the  "Shah- 
Nameh"  is  Rustem,  that  prodigy  of  strength,  piety,  and  valor, 
whose  adventurous  career  ran  through  several  centuries. 

The  inscription  is  taken  from  that  part  of  the  poem  which 
has  to  do  with  the  reign  of  King  Kai-Kaus. 

One  day  a  demon,  disguised  as  a  musician,  waited  upon 
the  monarch,  and  playing  sweetly  on  his  harp,  sang  a  song 
in  praise  of  the  land  of  Mazinderan. 

And  thus  he  warbled  to  the  king — 
"Mazinderan  is  the  bower  of  spring, 
My  native  home;  the  balmy  air 
Diffuses  health  and  fragrance  there; 
So  tempered  is  the  genial  glow, 
Nor  heat  nor  cold  we  ever  know; 
Tulips  and  hyacinths  abound 
On  every  lawn;  and  all  around 
Blooms  like  a  garden  in  its  prime, 
Fostered  by  that  delicious  clime." 

No  sooner  had  Kai-Kaus  heard  this  description  of  the 
country  of  Mazinderan  than  he  determined  to  lead  an  army 
thither  and  to  make  war  upon  the  demons  who  inhabited  it. 
This  he  accordingly  did,  but  the  great  White  Demon  caused 
a  shower  of  tremendous  hailstones  to  pour  down  upon  the 
Persian  host,  which  was  thus  destroyed  or  put  to  flight.  King 
Kai-Kaus  was  stricken  blind  and  made  a  prisoner  by  the 
demons.  He,  however,  sent  word  of  his  plight  to  Zal,  the 

28 


father  of  Rustem,  whereupon  Rustem  set  out  on  his  favorite 
horse,  Rakush,  to  rescue  him.  Here  follow  the  so-called 
Seven  Labors  of  Rustem,  an  Oriental  parallel  to  the  Twelve 
Labors  of  Hercules.  Rustem's  seventh  and  last  exploit  was 
to  encounter  the  gigantic  White  Demon.  After  a  furious 
struggle,  he  slew  the  demon  and  cut  out  his  heart,  with  the 
blood  of  which  he  restored  the  sight  of  Kai-Kaus.  The  latter, 
with  Rustem's  aid,  then  defeated  the  king  of  Mazinderan  in 
battle  and  made  that  enchanted  country  a  part  of  the  Persian 
realm. 


29 


INSCRIPTION   No.   20.     Court  of  the  Universe ;    Arch  of  the 
Rising   Sun,   east   side,   facing  away  from  court. 

(Siam) 

A  WISE  MAN  TEACHES  BE  NOT  ANGRY 
FROM  UNTRODDEN  WAYS  TURN 

ASIDE  — Phra  Ruang. 

From  the  maxims  of  Phra  Ruang  (Prince  Arunavatti 
Ruang),  who  was  probably  the  most  remarkable  man  that 
Siam  has  yet  produced.  Although  a  historical  personage 
whose  birth  occurred,  according  to  some  authorities,  in  the 
eleventh  century,  according  to  others,  in  the  thirteenth,  legend 
places  him  in  a  more  remote  period — namely,  the  fifth  cen- 
tury— and  declares  him  to  be  the  child  of  the  queen  of  the 
Nagas,  a  fabulous  race  dwelling  under  the  earth.  His  advent 
and  glorious  reign  are  said  to  have  been  announced  by 
Gautama  Buddha  himself.  According  to  history,  he  was  the 
third  son  of  a  petty  chieftain  whose  power  seems  not  to  have 
reached  more  than  twenty  miles  in  any  direction  from  his 
stronghold.  Phra  Ruang  rose,  however,  to  be  the  first  king 
to  rule  over  a  united  Siam,  as  large  as,  or  even  larger  than, 
the  Siam  of  today.  A  commemorative  inscription  of  the  thir- 
teenth century  tells  how,  on  account  of  a  deed  of  valor,  his 
father  dubbed  him  Phra  Ram  Khamheng,  by  which  appella- 
tion he  is  sometimes  known.  The  greatest  of  the  achieve- 
ments thus  recorded  was  the  adaptation  of  the  Cambodian 
alphabet  to  the  writing  of  the  till  then  untamed  speech  of  the 
Siamese ;  but  the  thing  for  which  today  he  is  best  remembered 
is  undoubtedly  his  maxims,  or  "Sayings." 

[The  text  of  this  inscription  was  furnished  by  Professor 
Cornelius  B.  Bradley  of  the  University  of  California.] 


30 


GROUP  3       ,.  .....   ,  ,t 

COURT  OF  THt£  '  FOUR  :S£ASONS 

INSCRIPTION  No.  21.     Court  of  the  Four  Seasons,  west  side. 
Three  panels  above  entrance. 

FOR  LASTING  HAPPINESS  WE  TURN 

OUR  EYES  TO  ONE  ALONE 

AND  SHE  SURROUNDS  YOU  NOW 

GREAT  NATURE  REFUGE  OF  THE 
WEARY  HEART  AND  ONLY  BALM  TO 
BREASTS  THAT  HAVE  BEEN  BRUISED 

SHE  HATH  COOL  HANDS  FOR  EVERY 
FEVERED  BROW  AND  GENTLEST 
SILENCE  FOR  THE  TROUBLED  SOUL 

— Sterling. 

George  Sterling,  the  author  of  these  lines,  although  not  a 
Californian  by  birth,  is  accounted  a  Californian  poet,  by 
reason  of  his  long  and  productive  residence  in  this  State.  It 
was  not  on  this  account,  however,  that  lines  of  his  were 
chosen,  but  because,  in  spite  of  the  enormous  volume  of 
nature  poetry  in  existence,  no  passage  among  the  many  that 
were  considered  possessed  the  quality  of  appropriateness  in 
the  same  high  degree. 

The  quotation  is  from  "The  Triumph  of  Bohemia,"  a 
poetic  drama  written  for  the  Bohemian  Club  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, an  organization  which,  since  1878,  has  held  each  year 
in  one  of  the  redwood  groves  of  California  a  dramatic  and 
musical  festival  known  as  the  "Midsummer  High  Jinks." 
Prior  to  1902  the  jinks  were  composite  entertainments  to 
which  the  various  participants  contributed  their  own  parts, 
which  were  fitted  into  a  general  scheme  prepared  by  "the  sire." 


31 


In  that  year,  and  since  then,  the  festivals  have  been  in  the 
form*  of  'dramas  with  music;  and  each  has  been  the  work  of 
a  single  poet  arid  composer.  These  dramas,  which  in  certain 
particulars  represent  a  new  art  form,  are  called  "grove-plays." 
They  are  witnessed  only  by  the  members  of  the  club,  those 
holding  visitors'  privileges,  and  a  few  invited  guests. 
"The  Triumph  of  Bohemia"  was  the  grove-play  of  1907. 


32 


INSCRIPTION  No.  22.     Court  of  the  Four  Seasons,  east  side. 
Three  panels  above  entrance. 

SO  FORTH  ISSEW'D  THE  SEASONS  OF 
THE  YEARE  -  FIRST  LUSTY  SPRING  ALL 
DIGHT  IN  LEAVES  AND  FLOWRES  - 

THEN  CAME  THE  JOLLY  SOMMER  BEING 

DIGHT 

IN  A  THIN  CASSOCK  COLOURED  GREENE 
THEN  CAME  THE  AUTUMNE  ALL  IN 

YELLOW  CLAD- 

LASTLY  CAME  WINTER  CLOATHED  ALL 

IN  FRIZE- 
CHATTERING  HIS  TEETH  FOR  COLD 

THAT  DID  HIM  CHILL 

— Spenser. 

From  "The  Faerie  Queene,"  Book  VII,  Canto  VII. 

Edmund  Spenser,  "the  poet's  poet,"  as  Charles  Lamb  called 
him,  was  born  at  London  about  1552.  He  was  educated  at 
the  Merchant  Tailors'  School  and  at  Pembroke  College,  Cam- 
bridge. Among  his  patrons  were  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  the  Earl 
of  Leicester,  and  Lord  Grey  de  Wilton.  As  secretary  to  Lord 
Grey,  he  went  to  Ireland  in  1580,  to  assist  in  suppressing  Des- 
mond's rebellion.  As  an  agent  of  the  government,  advocating 
oppressive  measures,  h^  became  extremely  unpopular.  At  the 
suggestion  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  he  returned  to  London  in 
1589,  and  shortly  thereafter  he  brought  out  the  first  three  books 
of  "The  Faerie  Queene."  Already  famous,  he  was  now  pro- 
claimed as  first  of  living  poets.  He  returned  to  Ireland,  where, 
in  1598,  his  house  was  burned  by  Irish  rebels  and  he  was 
obliged  to  fly.  He  died  in  London  on  January  16,  1599,  and 
was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey. 


33 


NOTE 

In  selecting  passages  from  literature  to  be  inscribed  on  buildings 
and  monuments  at  the  Panama-Pacific  International  Exposition,  it  has 
seemed  proper  to  draw  in  all  cases  from  profane  rather  than  from  sacred 
sources. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  two  triumphal  arches  in  the  Court  of  the 
Universe  (known  as  the  Arch  of  the  Rising  Sun  and  the  Arch  of  the 
Setting  Sun)  are  drawn  respectively  from  Oriental  and  Occidental  liter- 
atures. The  intention  has  been  to  make  these  two  sets  of  inscriptions  as 
completely  representative  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Hemispheres  as 
the  number  of  panels  would  permit.  To  accomplish  this  result  the  ar- 
rangement indicated  in  the  following  diagram  was  adopted: 


Spain  China 

America   (COURT)   India 
England  Japan 


It  was  next  decided  to  select — as  representatives  of  these  nations — 
works  or  authors  of  preeminent  importance.  In  such  cases  as  those  of 
Shakespeare,  Dante,  Goethe,  Confucius,  Cervantes,  this  was  quite  sim- 
ple. With  some  others  it  was  far  more  difficult.  India,  for  example, 
might  be  appropriately  represented  by  a  selection  from  the  "Mahabha- 
rata"  or  from  the  "Ramayana."  But  a  careful  examination  of  the  avail- 
able English  texts  of  these  two  great  epics  failed  to  yield  anything 
having  the  necessary  requirements,  and  it  was  from  Kalidasa's  "Shakun- 
tala"  that  a  passage  was  finally  selected. 

In  the  case  of  Persia,  it  would  have  been  a  comparatively  simple 
matter  to  select  something  from  Omar  Khayyam  or  from  Hafiz;  but 
neither  of  these  popular  poets  may  be  said  to  represent  Persia  in 
the  best  sense.  Firdausi,  on  the  other  hand,  stands  in  relation  to  Per- 
sian literature  as  Homer  stands  in  relation  to  the  literature  of  Greece. 
It  was  determined,  therefore,  to  find  something  in  Firdausi's  "Shah- 
Nameh"  that  would  be  appropriate,  and  the  search  for  such  a  passage 
was  finally  successful. 

By  such  a  process  as  is  here  indicated,  authors  were  assigned  to  the 
various  panels  as  shown  in  the  following  diagram: 


(Italy) 
Dante 

ARCH 

(Spain) 
Cervantes 

(China) 
Confucius 

ARCH 

(Siam) 
Phra  Ruang 

(Germany) 
Goethe 

OF  THE 
SETTING 

(America) 
Whitman 

(India) 
Kalidasa 

OF  THE 
RISING 

(Persia) 
Firdausi 

(France) 
Pascal 

SUN 

(England) 
Shakespeare 

(Japan) 
Hitomaro 

SUN 

(Arabia) 
Zuhayr 

34 


In  determining  the  character  of  this  group  of  inscriptions,  the  fol- 
lowing considerations  were  taken  into  account:  (i)  The  inscriptions 
for  the  four  large  central  panels  (two  on  each  arch)  should  possess  a 
cosmical,  an  epical,  or  an  elemental  quality;  (2)  The  inscriptions  for 
the  eight  smaller  panels  (four  on  each  arch)  should  deal  with  such 
abstractions  as  truth,  nature,  beauty;  (3)  Proverbs  should  be  excluded 
as  far  as  possible. 

P.  G. 


35 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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